THE STORY – After surviving one deadly game, Grace and her sister Faith must now outrun four rival families competing for a powerful throne – winner takes all.
THE CAST – Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood, Néstor Carbonell, Kevin Durand, Olivia Cheng & Varun Saranga
THE TEAM – Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett (Directors), Guy Busick & R. Christopher Murphy (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 108 Minutes
In the closing moments of “Ready or Not,” the former Grace Le Domas, played by Samara Weaving, sits on the steps of the manor she burned to the ground alongside all of the exploded carcasses of her satanic worshiping in-laws, smoking a cigarette in the relief that the worst is now all behind her. The film, an extravaganza of a bloodbath, all but catapulted the careers of horror duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, better known as Radio Silence. Even though it’s been seven years since the pair made the original, they know not to make audiences wait even further, kicking off the sequel “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” in high gear with an elaborate oner as the opening credits are intercut with flashbacks to rope those unfamiliar with the story of the first film into the mix. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillet open their arms to all, wanting everyone to return to the gore-filled gratification that made their original film a success, which only makes their efforts here all the more worthy of a follow-up to such a beloved cult classic.
Audiences witness that Grace’s brief moratorium is all but ended as her survival of the Le Domas family ritual triggered a long power vacuum among the remaining five families apart of this cabal of wealthy satanists who ultimately control all of the world’s power. All of these houses, at the behest of David Cronenberg’s Chester Danforth, unite for a chance at taking their place at the head of this organization, which comes at the expense of Grace enduring another round of a life-or-death game of hide and seek. The kicker, the somewhat battle-savvy Grace, is now responsible for ensuring the survival of her estranged sister Faith, played by Kathryn Newton, who unwillingly has to tag along for this sadistic manhunt. It’s sisterly trauma bonding at its finest as the two, over the course of the night, have the reunion many sisters would never dream of. What keeps “Here I Come” from falling through the wringer of a lifeless repetitiveness is Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy’s screenwriting, which does double down on what made the original film’s story work so well, yet supplements enough witty caveats that keep the entire engine of Radio Silence’s direction propulsive enough to feel still as engaging as it did the first time.
Even exposition, often delivered by Elijah Wood’s devil-worshipping Consigliere to the Danforth family, is concise and tonally works within the film’s wavelength. What Busick and Murphy’s screenplay nails is slightly breaking up the similar structure when needed by deepening the relationships at its center, eliciting both emotional investment and amusement from audiences. Grace and Faith’s journey is one of reconnection that somewhat mirrors the struggles of the Danforth siblings, as Shawn Hatosy’s Titus and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Ursula also find themselves in a similar situation: not only trying to win the hunt to keep control of their massive empire, but also wondering what their roles in it will be to each other in the future.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s direction also allows all the new additions to the ensemble to revel in the madness of it all, delivering a varied range of performances. Newton is the most notable, bringing the necessary energy to Weaving’s stunning scream queen performance and playing it off so wonderfully. Weaving, though, is still managing to elevate herself through every yell or punch thrown. Her physicality in “Here I Come” is doubled only this time, just as the gallons of blood that coat her and Newton throughout the film’s runtime. They’re an utterly delightful pairing, as both actors tap into the balance of action and comedy so in tune with Radio Silence’s directing style.
Hatosy, switching it up from the swoon-worthy quality of his recent work as Dr. Jack Abbott in “The Pitt” to something more malicious, gradually builds up an anger only prodded by Gellar’s patronizing energy, which she brings out so well. Everyone gets their chance to get a few quips off their chest, or something impaled through it, but man, if only there were more of David Cronenberg. His cameo alone and some of the jokes tied to it should be the reason alone to shower Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillett, Busick, and Murphy with their flowers.
It seems, at this rate, this quartet of creatives has perfectly engineered the recipe for an incredibly crowd-pleasing genre of film that others in the industry have already aped with far less of the magic that makes it work as it does in “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.” Is it more of the same? Sure, at its core, it’s essentially the same film all over again. Yet Radio Silence’s direction is more elaborate, taking their years of work to come up with far more inventive set pieces, using way more gallons of blood, and, overall, a sequel that is everything we could’ve wanted and possibly a little bit more.
